Jessalyn Gilsig

A pretty, honey blonde Canadian import with extensive United States theater credits, Jessalyn Gilsig launched her career as a David E Kelley protege of sorts, guesting on "The Practice" (ABC), winning...
Read More...

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /media/www/hollywood/Web/releases/20150325105258/vendor/doctrine/common/lib/Doctrine/Common/Annotations/FileCacheReader.php on line 202
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /media/www/hollywood/Web/releases/20150325105258/vendor/doctrine/common/lib/Doctrine/Common/Annotations/FileCacheReader.php on line 202
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /media/www/hollywood/Web/releases/20150325105258/vendor/doctrine/common/lib/Doctrine/Common/Annotations/FileCacheReader.php on line 202
Glee's Jessalyn Gilsig jumps onboard Vikings to play Byrne's wife

By:
WENN.com Source
Jun 29, 2012

The actress, who plays teacher Will Schuester's manipulative ex-wife on Glee, has been added to the cast of U.S. cable network The History Channel's first scripted drama, titled simply Vikings.
Stellan Skarsgard's son Dustaf, Travis Fimmel and Katheryn Winnick will also join Irish actor Byrne in the mini-series, which is being written by Michael Hirst, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Byrne will play ruthless Viking tribesman Earl Haraldson in the period piece.

The pair was high school sweethearts and wed in 2006 before welcoming a daughter, Penelope, later that same year.
But the couple secretly split almost a year ago - and Gilsig has filed divorce papers at Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences.
The documents, obtained by TMZ.com, reveal Gilsig and Salomon have drawn up a private marital settlement "that will divide all community assets and obligations", including a custody arrangement for Penelope.
Gilsig's marriage breakdown is the latest in a spate of celebrity splits - it was revealed on Tuesday (12Oct10) that Christina Aguilera has separated from her husband Jordan Bratman, actors Courteney Cox and David Arquette announced on Monday (11Oct10) they are taking a break from their 11-year union, while singer Ben Harper filed for divorce from his actress wife Laura Dern on Friday (08Oct10).

Bring on the Gleeks! As promised, the season 2 premiere brought two new faces to the Glee club – the quarterback, Sam, and the foreign exchange student, Sunshine. Apparently, creator Ryan Murphy isn’t stopping there. The next to join the slushied singers is newcomer and singer-songwriter, Darren Criss.
Glee’s creators are really jumping on the social media bandwagon this year. First off, the girl who plays Sunshine (Charice – yep, she goes by one name, like Madonna) was discovered last year through Oprah’s YouTube search for the “Next TV Star.” And now, Criss is joining the cast after participating in Glee’s open casting call on MySpace last year and the guy can really sing. Even though he took a rather grassroots approach, he’s no stranger to TV. You may recognize him from the short-lived drama, Eastwick.
Criss will reportedly play Blaine, a gay student who is part of a rival singing group at another Ohio high school. Watch out Vocal Adrenaline – two can play this game. (Plus, it looks like they’ve lost Idina Menzel’s character as their stickler of a coach, so maybe they’re losing their edge.)
The big question swirling around the newest addition to the Glee family is whether or not he will be the love interest for the show’s other openly gay character, Kurt. Ryan Murphy promised fans that this year, Kurt would get a boyfriend and seeing that Criss’ character is also openly gay and a singer, it’s got everyone wondering if Kurt and Blaine with be the new Jesse and Rachel. (That whole relationship was so obnoxious, it’s about time someone else took a stab at the whole forbidden teenage love thing anyway.)
Even though the pieces look to be falling into place, we still can’t be sure that Criss will be the new BF. There’s also been speculation about Kurt dating the pouty Justin Beiber lookalike, Sam, and honestly that’s where I’m putting my money. The show is all about turning the typical high school stereotypes upside down – the president of the celibacy club gets pregnant, the star quarterback and three other football players sing and dance and wear costumes, the top cheerleaders join glee club despite the heavy hallway persecution, and the head football coach is a woman – it only makes sense that the writers would create another contrast to the norm and have the star quarterback date Kurt. And after Finn’s homophobic issues marred his friendship with Kurt last season, it would even create even greater contention between the ex-quarterback and the kid who stole his claim to fame.
Who knows, maybe both theories are right and Kurt will become part of love triangle with the two newcomers. It’s about time we stop worrying about Rachel and who she’s currently locking lips with – share the spotlight, honey and let’s have Kurt get all the attention for once.
Source: Entertainment Weekly

Gilsig has landed several starring roles on the small screen, including U.S. TV dramas Nip/Tuck and Boston Public, and hit comedy Glee - but confesses her acting career isn't keeping her busy enough.
The 37 year old has now found a way to make extra money, by taking orders and passing hors d'oeuvres around when she's not on set.
She explains, "I just waited tables for the first time last week (begs26Oct09). I took a catering job. I'd never done it and I really like to be busy, so I did. It's fascinating. People are so rude."

Summary

A pretty, honey blonde Canadian import with extensive United States theater credits, Jessalyn Gilsig launched her career as a David E Kelley protege of sorts, guesting on "The Practice" (ABC), winning a never-to-be-seen regular role on his doomed spy series "Snoops" (ABC) and starring on his controversial high school-set drama "Boston Public" (Fox) in a role written with her in mind. Born and raised in Montreal, the actress got her start in voice-over work at age 12, bringing life to animator Co Hoedeman's "Masquerade" for the National Film Board of Canada in 1984. She was featured in 1989's "The Journey Home", another Film Board production, and had a cameo in the romantic drama "Jacknife" starring Robert De Niro that same year.

Met in high school and married in 2006; filed for divorce in October 2010 after being separated for almost a year

Penelope Salomon

Daughter

Born Sept. 26, 2006; father, Bobby Salomon

Education

Name

McGill University

Trafalgar School For Girls

American Repertory Theater

Notes

Gilsig on series television: "I like it. It's a lot of work - pretty much your whole life. But luckily, my first exposure to a series is something I'm really proud of." - quoted in the New Jersey newspaper, The Record, Jan. 20, 2001